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LONDON–Millard “Mickey” Drexler is more worried about the candy than the store.

“They’re gonna put their hands in there?” he asks of the glass jars and bowls of sugared treats being filled ahead of the opening of J.Crew Group Inc.’s first international flagship store. “Scoops, there’ll be scoops,” one of his multitude staff reassures him.

Mr. Drexler, chief executive of the closely held U.S. clothing chain, is in London to bring his particular brand of fervor and attention to detail to a 17,000-square-foot store on trendy Regent Street. J.Crew has a smaller men’s store in London that opened in October and a separate women’s store also opening Friday, but the store opening Friday is its first full-scale location outside North America. The company has a total of 442 stores in the U.S. and Canada, including 65 under its Madewell brand and 121 factory outlets.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it filed an insider trading civil action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Frank A. LoBue, a former Director of Store Operations at J.Crew Group, Inc. (J.Crew). The complaint alleges that LoBue used material, nonpublic information about sales and expenses of the company’s stores to purchase J.Crew common stock in advance of earnings announcements in May and August 2009.

The SEC complaint says that in 2009, Mr LoBue, who had access to internal information on the performance of J-Crew stores, twice purchased shares in J-Crew ahead of earnings releases, leading to “aggregate illicit profits” of “at least $60,735.60.”

Mr LoBue’s employment with J-Crew was terminated in 2010; we couldn’t locate him for comment today. According to this LinkedIn profile, after an 11-month stint at Apple Retail, Mr LoBue is now a director of operations at fashion company Intermix.

A $121,000 settlement in the suit has been proposed, according to the SEC:

Without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, LoBue has consented to the entry of a proposed final judgment permanently enjoining him from violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder; ordering him to pay disgorgement of $60,735.60, plus prejudgment interest thereon of $6,749.33; and imposing a civil penalty in the amount of $60,735.60. The proposed settlement is subject to the approval of the District Court.

The numbers involved here are pretty small fry compared to some of the cases that have come across the SEC’s desks in recent years. But coming the day after the sentencing of former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta — a truly big fish — to two years in jail and a $5 million file for his role in an insider trading ring, it serves as a reminder that the regulators take an equal-opportunity approach to these kind of cases. Big or small, they love a good bust. Read More »